Cycling / MTB: The Cape Epic once again lives up to its notorious reputation. A technical defect in the previously dominant Scott-Sram duo of Schurter and Forster led to a change of leadership in South Africa today; tomorrow the Cannondale drivers Fumic and Avancini will start in the jerseys of the overall leaders, new thirds are the Team BULLS heroes Simon Stiebjahn and Urs Huber.
After the previous three stages of the day were quite clear affairs for Nino Schurter and Lars Forster and the two Scott-Sram drivers were able to win all stages of the day, the two Swiss also had bad luck with breakdowns, from which they had been spared so far. At the worst possible time, Forster suffered a flat tire that could not be easily repaired. So the two had to wait for their backup team to change the wheel. The Cannondale Factory drivers Manuel Fumic and Henrique Avancini, who were also very strong again today, benefited from this and at times drove away from the lead by almost ten minutes.
After what felt like an eternity for Scott-Sram, the relentless race to catch up over difficult and sometimes extremely steep terrain began. Fumic and Avancini at the front maintained their high speed to the end and made life difficult for their pursuers. First and foremost it was the Team BULLS heroes Simon Stiebjahn and Urs Huber, who never gave up over the entire distance and, as on the previous days, were able to underline their good form. Behind them, the Trek-Selle San Marco duo lurked for their chance but had to settle for third place at the end of the day.
In the end, the day's winners Fumic/Avancini had a lead of 2:24 minutes over the BULLS Heroes, and even XX over the previous overall leaders Schurter and Forster. This put the Cannondale pros at the top of the overall rankings and made Scott-Sram the pursuers. New third are the BULLS Heroes. Speaking of the Bulls: Karl Platt and Alban Lakata couldn't quite keep up with the top ten, but they fought until the last second and made it into the top 10 of the day.
There was also a lot going on in the overall rankings for the women. While the leading duo of Specialized-songo-Specialized was able to extend their lead to over 20 minutes, the previously second-placed riders of Kross-Spur did not have a good day and lost many minutes. Adelheid Morath took advantage of this slip-up with her partner Candice Lill, who were able to move up to second place.
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